Hornbæk was originally a small fishing village around a natural harbour. In 1706, as the first of a number of Danish reforestation initiatives, the Hornbæk Plantage was planted east of the village to prevent entrainment of the sandy soils.
In the late 18th century, it was common practice for people from Copenhagen to spend their summers in the countryside north of the city and a number of artists began lodging in Hornbæk, either in the local inns or privately. Among these were Peder Severin Krøyer, Holger Drachmann andCarl Locher before they moved on to Skagen and formed the Skagen colony. Kristian Zahrtmann, another prominent Danish painter of the time, also spend time in Hornbæk.
Gradually an industry of boarding houses and seaside hotels emerged and many summer residents bought land and built houses.
August Strindberg and Harriet Bosse visited Hornbæk in 1901 on a dramatic trip, a substitute for their honeymoon which Strindberg called off at the last moment. She went to Hornbæk alone and he later followed but they left after he attacked a photographer who wanted to take a picture of Bosse in her bathing costume.
When the Hornbæk Railway was inaugurated on 22 May 1906, the town was invaded by tourists. Bathing jetties and bathing huts were common along the coast
